Local ice makers make debut at international curling event in China

XINING, Northwest China, Dec.18 (Xinhua) -- Local ice makers ing China's northwest Qinghai province started to make appearances in international curling events as the country is on track to engage more of its people in winter sports.

Ming Laisheng and Hu Yue, both 30, produced the top-notch playing surface for curlers in their debut as professional ice makers at the 2nd China Qinghai International Curling Elite Competition in Duoba Base, a national training camp at the altitude of over 2300 meters.

The duo turned from curling enthusiasts into curling ice makers after they attended the first training session for ice makers held in Shanghai in July last year and started their career as professional ice makers since then.

"I knew nothing about ice making before, but I did have interest in curling. Now as an ice maker, I work hard to make better ice for the players," said Ming.

Ming and Hu started well. They made the bottom ice of this on-going curling event independently, and as their first try, it turned out to be a success.

"Making bottom ice is a basic but very important step, just like making foundation for a house," Ming said, adding that they spent 3 days making the bottom ice of four ice tracks and their job was appreciated by the chief ice technician Joachim Fritz from Germany.

"The (ice) base they made when I arrived was very good, it was very leveled, which helped me a lot," said Fritz, who has been a curling ice maker for more than 20 years, and is now one of the top ice makers in the world.

During this seven-day event which kicked off Friday, Ming, Hu and Fritz are working nearly 14 hours a day, brushing ice surface and pebbling after each session, so as to maintain qualified ice path and keep the event running smoothly.

Fritz emphasized that every procedure of ice making is vital, and the most important thing for an ice maker is to keep learning and gain experience during practices.

"There is no perfect ice maker. I am still learning, discovering failures and trying to do better," said Fritz.

"For young ice makers, practice means a lot. This international event is a good chance for the two local ice makers," he added.

According to Liu Xinghai, the director of Duoba Base, Ming and Hu are for now the only two local ice makers in Qinghai, but the local government expects to have more in five years. Meanwhile China has set an ambitious plan to involve 300 million people in winter sports as its capital Beijing will host the 2022 Olympic Winter Games. Enditem